Harry Potter & the Daughter of War
by Ashura05
Summary: Harry's got a lot to deal with. A lovestruck Ginny, Voldemort, a new Headmaster, and to top it all off, a demon woman who vows to kill Death Eaters...and Harry Potter! Chapter 5 now up! HG, RHr, LunaOC, OCOC, and various other pairings later.
1. Regretful Decisions

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, or any of its characters. JKR, WB, and a whole bunch of other people do, but NOT ME! Warning: Spoilers for HBP ahead! Also, minor use of language. I will only post this disclaimer again for when new warnings are needed.

Harry Potter & the Daughter of War

By Ashura

Chapter One: Regretful Decisions

It was an ordinary day on Number Four, Pivet Drive. The mailman delivered the paper just like any day. Breakfast was served without a moment's delay. The TV blared the morning news, occasionally reporting that someone had been killed by unknown means.

But for one Harry Potter, today was nothing in the ordinary whatsoever. Today was the beginning of the end: his birthday. Normally, he would celebrate his birthday as much as he could, preferably at the Weasley's, but not this birthday. Today he was seventeen, which meant several things.

But the only thing that was on his mind was the spell that had just been lifted. Now he was no longer safe anywhere. Voldemort could drop on by right now and kill him if he wanted. This was why he was prepared to draw his wand at any time, listing the number of jinxes and hexes he could use.

Most people would be scared out of their minds right now, expecting Voldemort to arrive at their doorstep. But for harry, he was surprised to not find any trace of fear in him. It was a weird feeling, really. He guessed it was because of the prophecy, knowing he would have to face him. Right now, he wasn't thinking about if he could do it, but how he would go about it, and he had several ideas in his mind at the moment.

One more special occurrence was to happen this day besides the chance of his most hated enemy. Arthur Weasley was going to be stopping by to get Harry his Apparating license. This Harry looked forward to with great enthusiasm. He had apparated a couple times, and felt confident he could do it again.

Also, he could now perform magic whenever he wanted, which he was thankful of should Voldemort or any other Death Eaters should arrive, though Harry knew he need not fear Death Eaters. All of Voldemort's servants were not to kill Harry, saving him for Voldemort. Unfortunately, they would probably be used to get to Harry's friends.

Or even worse, Ginny. Harry shook his head when her name popped up. He refused to show any affection towards her until Voldemort was killed. If he did, and Voldemort found out, she'd be top of his list. He knew he couldn't do anything for Ron and Hermione's status, but at least he could keep Ginny out of it. It was her only chance.

Though when he thought about it, if anyone could put up with a horde of Death Eaters, it was her. Her dueling skills were second only to him, as far as he knew. But the fear that she could end up dead haunted him more. Losing Dumbledore was bad enough as it was.

He frowned at the thought. Thinking of Dumbledore, or Sirius for that matter, didn't bring sadness to his heart anymore. It only reminded him of what he must do to keep that from happening again. To anyone else. He would fight Voldemort until one of them lay dead.

How to kill him though? The thought still lingered in his mind since Dumbledore's death. After he found the four Horcruxes, then what? How would he kill Voldemort? He refused to use _Avada Kedavra_. For some reason, he wouldn't stoop that low. But Harry wasn't above using Crutiatus, as he discovered when he fought Snape. And, though it would have cost him a life sentence in Azkaban, he would have loved to have succeeded back then.

He would have to control himself. Remain pure, as Dumbledore had told him. It was his only weapon against Voldemort. Love was another, but Harry could not figure out how to use that to his advantage. He searched through his spell books over the summer, determined to find a spell like that. But he could find none.

It was then that he noticed the black Ministry of Magic car pulling up into the driveway, and realized Mr. Weasley had arrived.

"Hello Harry. You packed?"

Harry nodded, and he and Mr. Weasley collected his only belongings and placed them into the trunk of his car. He stayed silent the entire time, lost in thought of how he was to leave what was his only protection.

He turned around to get one last look at it. Soon he was to leave the house he had lived in for ten years and seven years each summer. The house where he was treated like scum, a freak. And now, he felt as if he might miss his cupboard under the stairs.

"You're not coming back, right?" said Uncle Dursley, standing in front of the house, Aunt Petunia and Dudley behind him, "You're gone for good this time?"

"Yes," said Harry quietly, "This'll probably be the last time I ever see you again." He flashed a smile towards them. He half hoped for at least a goodbye, a nice farewell for a change.

"Good," he said hotly, "It's about bloody time! Now get out of my house!"

Harry chuckled under his breath. He should never have expected anything less. At the very least, he would be able to remember his uncle as he always had: a sack of hot air.

He turned his back on them and climbed into the Ministry of Magic car, almost certain he heard a quiet, "See ya," from Dudley. Harry smiled. Well, at least one of them had manners.

"How does it feel to be out of there, Harry?" he heard Mr. Weasley ask him when they drove a distance, "Being of-age and all?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. It's okay, I guess." Which was kind of true, in a sense. Being of-age didn't really feel any different to him. He still had magic, he still had the same destiny. All it meant was he could do magic any time he wanted and, as soon as he got his license, apparate.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Didn't feel any different for me, either," Mr. Weasley said to him, though Harry was only half-listening. "But for some people, it means a great deal. I know Ron's been enjoying his freedom. He's been giving us a hard time with giving payback to Fred & George."

Harry chuckled. Ron had been waiting for this for a long time. He could only imagine what he was unleashing upon the twins. Actually, he couldn't. He didn't exactly remember Ron ever using spells the twins didn't know.

"Hermione's been using magic constantly," Mr. Weasley continued, "Mostly cleaning up Ron's messes."

Harry couldn't stifle a laugh at this. He silently hoped Ron and Hermione were getting along well; though Dumbledore's death had brought them closer, their friendship was still a bit rocky. He hoped that Hermione wasn't cleaning his messes so much that it made Ron a tad jealous.

"I, um, heard you and Ginny hooked up recently, from what Ron's told me," he said from out of nowhere, "Is that true?"

This question took Harry by surprise so much, he was not able to answer it. In the back of his mind, Harry despised Mr. Weasley for asking that, but he knew he shouldn't. after all, how was he to know that all Harry could think about all summer was how he wished he could take back everything he said to Ginny at the funeral. And yet he knew he could not.

But this was a dilemma. He forgot that he never did tell Ron that he and Ginny broke up. He didn't know why, though. Maybe he was afraid of what Ron might say. But Harry supposed he just didn't want to accept it himself. After all, he wanted nothing more than to be with her.

"Um, Mr. Wealsey, I…" he had to say something to him, but found he just couldn't seem to form any words.

"It's okay, Harry," Mr. Weasley said calmly, "I have no problem with it. I'd rather it be you, anyways. Just make sure you don't leave her like those other two. She may not look it, but Ginny's very emotional. I supposed you may have noticed in your second year, but too much stress causes Ginny to, well, snap. It's not very pretty. She becomes an entirely different person. It took two years before she finally got over that Chamber of Secrets incident."

Yes, he did notice. And just now he realized how she took the situation rather well, but inside he could tell she was hurt. It was him. He broke her that day, by breaking up with her. He thought she was just accepting, but he didn't think she'd…

"She's been like that lately," he continued, "I think Dumbledore's death did something to her. She stays in her room all day, and keeps to herself. Not even Hermione's been able to have a conversation with her that lasts more than a 'hello' and 'goodbye.' Hopefully, you can cheer her up."

Now how could he tell Mr. Weasley about the break up? When it was he who was making Ginny act this way? The realization of what he had done ate him up inside, tearing at his already weakened heart. He fought the tears clawing out of his eyes, but they came regardless.

Thankfully, Mr. Weasley did not notice. Harry knew eventually he had to tell everyone about the breakup, but he kept hesitating, delaying it further and further. It was like Sirius all over again. A part of him didn't want to believe he had done it. That he had broken up with Ginny Weasley.

But he had to put that behind him. It was over and done with and he had to follow through with his decision. If not being with Ginny was what he had to do to keep her safe, then so be it.

At last, Harry found himself at the only place he felt he could ever call home: The Burrow. It felt good to be back. And yet a part of him was dreading setting a single foot in it. He knew why, too. He didn't want to stay in a house where every day he was tempted with the sight of Ginny Weasley. Already his resolve was slipping from the mere thought of her.

But before Harry could even get to the front door, he had to jump back to avoid the reddish light of a stunning spell. He looked towards the source and found Ron locked in a duel with Fred, whilst Ginny battled George.

"Hold still, will you!" Ron yelled in frustration, his spells narrowly missing Fred. Fred only increased this aggravation by casting multiple shield charms around himself. Ginny, on the other hand, was performing much better than Ron, and had George casting the same shield charms just to defend himself.

Finally, Ginny heaved a great sigh and pointed her wand at George. "_Ardor Maxime!_" a large red beam shot out from her wand. George held up his want to defend himself, but the spell broke through and hit him square on the chest, knocking him backwards. "_Accio wand!_" she yelled, and George's wand flew into her hand, leaving a stunned and defeated George on the ground.

Fred looked up for a second at George's fall, but had to turn back to dodge Ron again. Distracted, Fred couldn't defend himself from Ginny's Bat Bogey Hex, which Harry was witnessing for the first time. Hundreds of tiny bats erupted from Ginny's wand and flew straight for Fred's head.

"Ack! Dammit, Ginny, this was supposed to be one-on-one!" he yelled at her as he tried to get rid of the annoying bats. "Oh, like you weren't going to do the same to me!" she yelled back at him and pointed her wand at him once again, "_Expelliarmus!" _and with that, Fred's one was released from his hand to be caught by Ron. However" Ron did not look as pleases you need to avoid the dual.

"Ginny, I was opposed to finish him!" Ginny only laughed at him and returned George's wand to him.

"that would have taken forever. If you didn't want my help, just dual one of them on your own!" and with that, she walked calmly past Ron and waved a "hello, Harry," before disappearing into the house.

"Harry!" Ron exclaimed, "sorry, mate, didn't see you…" before Ron could properly greet Harry, Fred and George pushed right past him and went right up to Harry, putting their arms around his shoulder.

"Hello Harry" George said with a sly look Harry knew could not be good, " Ginny would say anything, but Ron mentioned something to us about you going out with our sister. Is that true?"

Harry looked at them for a bit, then at Ron. He knew eventually he would have to tell them eventually, so why not now?

"No," he said calmly, "I'm not." Behind Fred and George, he saw Ron's jaw drop. The twins stared Harry then at Ron.

"But Ron said that…"

"After the Quidditch match, you—"

"We broke up," Harry said, and knew he said that in exactly the wrong way.

"You WHAT!" all three of them shouted. "What's wrong? She's not good enough for you?" "Just another fling, eh Harry?" "No wonder she's been so depressed lately!"

"Look!" Harry shouted to shut them up, "We broke up so she wouldn't be a target for Voldemort. If she's with me, she's as good as dead. I don't think any of you would want your sister just because she was with me. I'd much rather have her as my best mate's little sister than my girlfriend right now!"

There, he said it. it was over. He didn't care what they thought, and didn't wait to hear their answer, but instead just walked past their stunned faces and into the house. What for, he didn't know. His head ached. His heart burned. He needed to get something positive back. To for once have someone take his side for a change.

"Oh, hi Harry!" exclaimed Hermione as he walked in, reading a book in one of the arm chairs, "Ginny told me you had arrived." Ah, right on cue.

Harry took a deep sigh and said quietly, so only Hermione could hear, "Hermione, we need to talk." She gave him a questioning look, but didn't argue and led him into her and Ginny's room. Harry didn't say anything for a while, wondering what exactly to tell her. Finally, after what seemed like hours, but perhaps only 30 seconds, Ginny said, "is this about you and Ginny?" Harry nodded. "You two broke up, didn't you?" Another nod.

Hermione sat down next to him on the bed, and gave his back a light pat. "I figured as much. Ginny's usually so talkative, but all I get now is a 'Good night, Hermione.'"

Harry sighed, and let his body fall back onto the soft bed. "I hate this, Hermione. I know I did the right thing, but…"

"No, you didn't," she said flatly, "I know you had the right intentions, but Harry, Ginny's not your average girl. Ginny's strong, Harry. She duels much better than me or Ron, or even you for that matter! If we're allowed to be your friends, then there's no reason for you to—"

"If we were still together, she'd be the Death Eater's number one target!"

"Then Ron and I are number one targets too, did you think of that?" Harry stayed silent. He had no answer to this. "We're all targets, no matter how much you try and distance yourself from us. Besides, Voldemort may underestimate love, but even he isn't completely clueless. Even if you do stay apart, he's still going to go after her first. We're all better off with you than without you."

Harry was silent, taking this all in. "No," he said to her, "You're all still targets. If Voldemort's attention is on me and away from you guys, then—"

"What about the saying, 'safety in numbers,' Harry?"

Harry shook his head. "I was hoping you'd agree with me on this, Hermione. I guess I was wrong."

"Harry, I—"

"I need to think," he said, and left that room for the sanctuary of his and Ron's room. However, Ron was in there already, and Harry felt he was not in the mood to face him right about now, not after what he said about him and Ginny. Then he had it. "_Accio Firebolt_," he thought, and his broom leaped into his hands, much to the surprise of Ron Weasley. Racing out of the house pass Mrs. Weasley and two twins ready with questions he'd rather not answer, he kicked off the ground and took to the skies.

Calmness began to seep back into Harry as he felt the familiar sensation of the cool wind on his face. He flew high above the trees, taking his time to pick a decent landing spot. At last, he descended in a small clearing far away from the Weasley house and the source of his current problems.

He sat down next to the lake4 he had spotted from the air and set his Firebolt against a nearby tree. Not caring how clean the water was (clear blue was a good sign, wasn't it?), Harry splashed some water on his face and stared back at his contorted expression.

He tried to convince himself what he did was right. But as soon as he was sure there was no way he could be wrong, the monster inside of him roared angrily at him for doing so.

"Arrrggg!" he yelled, madly throwing stones at the water, "Why does this feel so wrong!"

_Because you know it is._

It can't be, my logic is…

_But you lover her._

Yes, and that is why I can't let her be with me.

_If you truly love her, you shouldn't be doing this._

NO! YOU'RE WRONG!

Again, he splashed his face with water in a desperate attempt to silence the beast.

"You know, splashing water all over yourself won't solve anything," Harry heard a voice behind him. He spun around to find a man in about his late twenties, with short, messy brown hair and small glasses. He wore a silver jacket and was resting against a tree flipping a gold coin in his right hand.

"If you really want to figure out the answers to your little love life, I suggest you sit down and calmly meditate for a few minutes. It should become much clearer after that."

Harry stared at the man, taking in what he had said. But then a thought came to him. "Hey, wait a minute. How did you know what I was thinking?" Harry questioned. _And even if he did read my mind, how come I didn't feel any pain like when Snape used _Legimens_ on me?_

The man laughed suddenly and shook his head. "For one thing, _Legimens_ is used not only for interrogation, but as a torture device."

"What? You mean there's more than one spell?"

"Well, yes, naturally. Most of them don't work very well, but with trial and error, you'll eventually figure out the right one."

Without warning, the wind started to pick up, and the atmosphere started to get a bit chilly. For a moment, Harry stared at the man before him. His right hand twitched instinctively, ready at any moment to draw his wand from his pocket. A chill just ran down his spine, and Harry knew it wasn't from the wind. For some reason just now, he felt nervous and wary around this man.

"Who are you?" he asked him.

The man smiled an evil smile that caused goose bumps to erupt on Harry's skin, "You'll find out," he said, and stepped back into the shadow of the trees. Harry rushed forward, determined not to let him get away so easily. But to his surprise, he found nothing behind that tree. That man, whoever he was, was gone.


	2. Confrontation

A/N: Sorry, forgot to introduce myself earlier. I am Ashura. I was previously known as "Jigon" (god, that name sounds just terrible to me now), and if anyone remembers, I was the author of "Harry Potter and the Amazing Prodigies" before I got kicked off & my computer crashed. So if anyone has a copy of my 1st work, please send it to me!

I'm going to change the rating of this fanfiction to "M," just to be safe. There's going to be a lot of terrible stuff going on later on, and I'll have violence, language, and hints of…yeah, I'd better make it "M"-rated. Next Chapter, I'll change it, since that's when the 1st hint of M-rated stuff occurs.

I am so sorry I didn't update and give you this next exciting chapter! I was waiting for my new beta to review it, but something happened when I sent it to her, and I don't want to keep you waiting any longer. Gomen nasai!

Harry Potter and the Daughter of War

By Ashura

Chapter Two: Confrontation

"So he just, disappeared?" Ron questioned Harry as they, Hermione and Ginny sat in the Weasley's living room, where Mrs. Weasley had conveniently laid out a platter of milk & cookies for them. Harry couldn't help feeling relieved that the topic of discussion was now focused away from him and Ginny.

"Yeah," said Harry, "I'm guessing he dissaperated or—"

"But that's impossible!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Why not?"

"Because anti-apparation wards have been placed around this house for protection," Hermione stated in her usual as-a-matter-of-fact attitude.

"Maybe he used some other spell. I'm sure Apparation isn't the only quick-escape method," Ginny said, taking a sip of her milk, "Maybe it has to do with him backing into those trees you mentioned."

"Backing into trees, you say?" came the eerie voice of Moody behind them, causing all three of them to jump in their seats in suprise.

"Don't do that!" Ron shouted, giving the ex-auror a dirty look.

"Y-yes sir," Harry told Moody, a little shaky himself.

"Ahem, forgive me. I couldn't help but overhear," Moody apologized, "By any chance, were the trees dark, er, did they have a lot of _Shadows_?"

"Well yes they did," replied Harry, "That was why I didn't see—"

"_Shadow Walking_!" he suddenly shouted. Harry, as well as the other three, stared at Mad-Eye, not sure if he was serious or really 'bark'ing mad. "_Shadow Walk_," he continued, "Is NOT a type of apparation, but an escape method used primarily by wizard assassins. Basically, the user blends his/her body into his/her shadow, usually used in a dark corner (in this case a bunch of trees) and moves along other shadows. Very difficult to learn, but I wouldn't use it myself."

"Why not?" asked Ron, "Sounds like a useful spell to me."

"Well, think about it," said Ginny, "For there to be a shadow, there must be an object to create it and the sun shining behind it. If there are no objects, or if it's a cloudy day, you have no shadows."

"Bravo," exclaimed Moody, clapping his approval, "couldn't have said it better myself!" and with that said, Moody walked towards the kitchen, leaving the four teens alone once again.

Harry couldn't help but feel a little proud and amazed at how Ginny figured the shadow problem out so quickly. But much to his dislike, the aching feeling in his chest was starting to return, and he would rather not experience it again.

"Still, this leaves me worried," said Hermione, "I thought when it came to reading minds, only Voldemort—" a wince came from Ron when Ginny elbowed him in the ribs, "—and Snape were a threat. But now, it seems there are probably plenty Death Eaters who can—"

"Oh, lighten up Hermione!" exclaimed Ron, taking a bite of one of the cookies, "Just because he can do it doesn't mean he's a Death Eater!"

"I know that, Ron. I'm just saying it's a possibility that the other Death Eaters can, too," she reminded him, "And don't talk with your mouth full, Ron, it's disgusting."

Harry heard Ginny snicker at that last comment.

"Well, it can't be too easy to do it! Maybe this guy was an elite auror; an assassin like Moody said!"

"Yes, Ron, but just to be on the safe side—"

"And what would you have all of us do, learn Occlumency? Even Harry couldn't—"

"But Ron, that's not what I…"

Just then, Harry felt a slight nudge in his ribs, and turned his head to see Ginny rolling her eyes at them.

"I'm getting tired of this. Fancy a walk?" Harry nodded, and the two left quickly, with Ron and Hermione not even noticing a thing.

"Man, they sure argue a lot, don't they?" Ginny laughed as she ran in front of Harry. He couldn't help but laugh at just how energetic she was, despite what Mr. Weasley had said about her being depressed. He supposed she was happy just to be with him right now.

However, he hated to disappoint any ideas she had. How he hated distancing himself from her, when all he wanted to do was take her in his arms and show her just how much he really cared. But that was something he could not afford to do.

"Harry, you okay?" she asked him, snapping him out of his stupor.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he responded, though he wasn't so sure of his answer. Truth was, his "monster" was driving him insane with thoughts of pulling her close, kissing her, whispering sweet thoughts into her ear…

"You did it again!" she laughed, "you sure you're okay, Harry?"

"Yes Jess," he said with a bit more confidence, "I'm fine." But seeing Ginny frown made him think she still didn't believe him one bit.

"Well," she said quietly, turning her back on him and staring at the ground, "I'm not." He was just about to ask her what was wrong, but he realized he already knew.

"I-it hurts, Harry," she told him, her voice rough and Harry swore her heard her sniff up a few tears, "You're right here, and yet I can't even touch you."

"Ginny," he tried to say calmly, without breaking down as well, "We've been through this. Voldemort could…"

"To hell with Voldemort! I don't care!" she snapped her head back at him, and Harry could see now that she did in fact have tears in her brown eyes.

"I'm one of the best duelers you know! And I can improve! I'll learn more spells! I'll train harder! I'll…"

"Ginny, we CAN'T! it doesn't matter how much stronger you get, he'll still be even stronger! The only way is if we are sure he's—"

"Dead? And who's going to do that, you? Prophecy or not, you can't do this alone!"

"Ginny, I have to!" Harry argued with her, "I have to do this alone! I have no choice! I can't be held responsible for you or anyone else!"

He was fed up with this. No one understood anything. No matter how powerful Ginny was, no matter how much his heart ached for her, the image of Voldemort laughing over her dead, lifeless body always changed his mind. He had let too many people die because he could not save them: Cedric. Sirius. Dumbledore. Each of their deaths could have been prevented, had he only been stronger.

"Ginny, I thought we had an understanding. You said you knew I had to fight Voldemort alone."

"You'll let Ron and Hermione—"

"That's different, Ginny!"

"Are you saying you love them more than me!" she yelled and turned to run away from him, not wanting to hear his answer.

But she felt her arm being pulled and she came face to face with Harry once again. "Ginny, I love you more than anything!" he insisted, pulling her to him and holding her close. She smelt like , "And that's why I can't drag you into any more danger."

"But Harry, I—"

"No but's, Ginny!" he cried, "I want to be with you too, but I would feel a whole lot better if I didn't think you were out there risking your life by fighting with me."

"But Hermione and my brother—"

"—have been with me since this whole mess started, and know exactly what's out there. I don't worry about them as much as I do with you."

Tears were now pouring down his face as everything he had been feeling for the past two months poured out of him. He felt more at ease, more sure that he had done the right thing. The monster in his chest had now settled.

A silence now filled the grassy field, as Ginny took in Harry's words. They stung in her heart; he did not trust her as much as Hermione and Ron. Nevertheless, she knew that he was right to feel this way. Ron and Hermione had been with Harry since day one, and risked their lives for him on numerous occasions. She, however, was only in battle twice, and faced death only in her 1st year. And having him worry about her, he said, would only hinder him when he faced Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

"Harry," she finally said.

"Yes, Ginny?"

"When you kill Voldemort," she said, and paused to place a brief kiss on his lips, "You had better make it up to me."

He laughed. He couldn't help but laugh, and it felt good. He hadn't laughed in a long time.

"Sure, Gin. You've got it."

And with that, she smiled, hugged him, and backed up several steps. Harry looked at her curiously, not sure what exactly she was up to.

"Well, now that that's been settled," she said, and reached into her pocket and drew out her wand, "Let's duel, Harry."

He stared at her. She grinned back. She wasn't serious, was she? But she ahd her wand out; it was poised in the traditional dual starting position.

"Ginny, are you—" he began to say, but she nodded before he could even finish. She was definitely serious, "But why, Gin?"

"Simple," she told him, "Both you and Ron (as well as my parents and other five brothers) seem to think I'm this fragile little girl that needs to be protected and cared for.

"Ginny, it's not that I…"

"I don't care. Besides," she said, and her grin made Harry get goosebumps, "I've always wanted to."

"But Gin, I—"

"Fine, you want incentive? We'll make a little bet. Fifty galleons and, as an added bonus, a date."

"A date?" he questioned, "Ginny, we just agreed that—"

"Don't worry; I have it covered. Besides, if you win, I'll leave alone completely and I won't even complain once!"

"Ginny, you don't even have fifty galleons!"

"How do you know I don't?"

"How do I know you do?"

"You won't win, so it doesn't matter."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, really."

"I don't think I could lose to—"

"Prove it then," she challenged him. With that, Harry had enough and pulled out his wand. He and Ginny bowed to each other and prepared to cast the first spell.

Harry gulped. He had never seen Ginny duel completely, so he had no clue as to how the duel would start. From what he saw from the only two duels he witnessed from her, she seemed to be using a "wait for an opening" strategy. That meant that he had to…

"_Ardor Sempra_!" he heard Ginny yell, and Harry was barely able to dodge the fiery stream that came streaming towards him. He heard her cast it again, but Harry was ready for it now.

"_Protego_!" he cried, but Ginny's spell simply cut right through the shield and hacked into Harry's chest. He winced when he stood back up. His shirt had been completely burned off, and 2nd degree burns were clearly visible on his chest.

"One thing I've learned about the Shield Charm," Ginny explained, "is that it can't block elemental spells. Nice chest, though. Rarr."

"_Expelliarmus_!" he yelled, and Ginny, distracted by her own statements, couldn't block it in time and her wand flew from her hand to the ground behind her.

"Hey, I wasn't—"

"_Accio wand_!" Harry cried, pointing at Ginny's wand. It flew off the ground and towards his open hand. Much to his surprise, however, Ginny lunged for it as it drove past her. She succeeded in grabbing onto it, and was able to hold her ground just enough to…

"_Stupefy_!" this time, Harry had no choice but to dodge, breaking the spell from her wand. But before he could even get back up, he found several tiny bats approaching him rapidly.

"_Ardor Maxime_!" he cried, and like he saw when Ginny dueled George, a large beam of red light shot out from his wand. To his surprise, the bats that weren't hit were also burned in the process. Harry wondered how Ginny—"

"_Expelliarmus_!" he heard Ginny shout, and instantly knew it was over. His wand shot out from his hand and with a "_Accio wand_!", she caught it before it ever rached the ground.

"I guess this one goes to me!" she grinned happily, kissing her wand as an afterthought. Beating Harry Potter sure made her happy, proving herself as she had hoped.

But inside, Harry was devastated.

A/N: well? Comments? Bashings? Have an idea you would like to see later on (I will credit you)? Want to just say hi? Either way, read & review! It's what I live write for.

Dueling Notes: _Ardor Sempra_—"Burn Repeatedly." There are other words I could have used, but I think _Ardor_ sounds better than the alternative. But you're the reviewer, so you may decide if you want me to be spot-on accurate or not.


	3. OWLs and Ginny

Disclaimer: oookay, this'll be a bigger chapter, since I have to…ah, you'll find out. The fic's now rated M, mostly for the next chapter, though, but I want to make sure all of my readers can get it from now on. Also, I'd like to point out that for all those who got this fanfiction under the "Action/Adventure" category, please note that this is also a romance fic, so expect some angst and fluff along the way…hint, hint

A/N: dodges fruits wait…there's so few of them…why is that? Oh, I know…it's because I have so few readers! cries True, I have been rather late, so I'm not surprised by the lack of interest, but still! Well, this should make you review, I hope.

Harry Potter and the Daughter of War

By Ashura

Chapter 03: OWLs and Ginny

"I lost." Those two words kept popping up inside of his head. He knew he shouldn't be beating himself up over this. This was Ginny, after all. He had always heard how good and talented she was at dueling, and he finally got to see just how good she was first hand.

And she won.

He punched the cushion at that thought. He just couldn't get that out of his head. Why? Because when it came down to it, if he couldn't beat Ginny, how was he supposed to defeat Voldemort? Maybe he wasn't serious enough. Maybe he wanted her to win. Maybe…

No! Those were just excuses. The fact was he wasn't as good at dueling as he thought he was. And Ginny just happened to be better. Somehow, someway, he had to get stronger. And the first thing he was going to do was learn Occlumency. After all, Snape did make a point. Knowing tons of spells was worthless if his opponent could just read his mind. And now he not only had to worry about Voldemort and Snape, but that mysterious stranger he met in the forest.

But who could teach him? Who did he know could perform occlumency? He thought of asking Lupin, or even Moody, but they were always so busy with work for the Order that it wasn't worth it. Now that he mentioned it, the only people that were constantly around him were Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. And he doubted Mr. Weasley knew anything about occlumency. The only person he knew of that could even possibly be teach him was that mysterious stranger.

As risky as it was, Harry knew he just had to learn occlumency, and if this man could teach him, he might as well give it a shot. But, try as he might each day, he could not seem to locate the shadowy figure he saw in the woods.

"Maybe you should give up Harry," Hermione told him one day when he returned from his searches, "it's very risky, anyways."

"And if I don't find someone to teach me occlumency, I'll die by Voldemort or Snape anyways, right?" he shot back.

She sighed in defeat, not really having an answer this time (they had been over this several times) and went back to her book.

"What have you been reading there, anyways?" questioned Ron, practicing hexes on various cushions, "Some trashy romance novel?"

"NO! How dare you, Ron! Insinuating that I, of all people would…"

"Are you?"

"NO! Of course not!" she shouted at him, "I'm researching items belonging to the Four Founders, for your information!"

"anything good?" Harry asked, attempting to break up their short feud. Thank god it worked.

"It's pretty difficult. Information about that stuff isn't public knowledge, you know. It's not like Muggles having everything in a Meuseum. Wizards keep treasures like this between their own families. Heirlooms, for example."

"So," said Ron, "You haven't found anything…"

"I said nothing good Ron," she answered, "I didn't say I didn't find anything. What I did find is—"

Just then Ginny burst through the room and sat down on the sofa next to Harry. "Hi Ginny," he greeted her, getting a nice, "Hi Harry" in return. But as soon as she landed next to him, he felt a slight shaking to the sofa, and noticed that Ginny's hands and feet were shaking.

"Ginny," he asked her, "are you cold or something?"

"Um, no. Just nervous," she said, and when Harry raised a curious eyebrow, she continued, "My O.W.L. results are supposed to arrive today."

"In August? Isn't it a bit late to be getting your results?" said Ron, having to transfigure another feather into a cushion so he could practice some more (Hermione made sure he practiced that first).

"Well, yes, but I guess with all that's been going on, they're bound to show up late. McGonagall was here the other day and told me," she said to her brother, "Not that the extra time mattered, much. My grades won't have changed."

"But Ginny," said Hermione, "I thought you did study—"

"Oh, don't worry, Hermione, I studied as much as I needed to," she laughed, seeing as how Hermione was giving Harry a dirty look, "But I don't do so well on the written exams. It's practical exams I can handle."

"What's wrong with written exams?" said Ron, "at least in the written exams if you mess up, you can just scratch it out!"

"Yeah, I know, but I just choke up on those kinds! It doesn't feel as natural to me. It's like—"

But Harry didn't get to hear her finish, as one large brown owl landed right on the table in front of them, carrying a familiar large square envelope. Ginny hesitantly took it from the owl's raised leg and slowly opened it and read out her results. She held it to herself, so not even Harry could see it until she had. Everyone held their breath in silence, waiting for a hint of her results.

"Phew," she gasped happily, "That's a relief. I guess my written exams didn't turn out as bad as I thought. Here, Harry. Have a look," and she handed her results for Harry to see.

**Ordinary Wizarding Level Results**

_**Pass Grades**_

Outstanding (O)

Exceeds Expectations (E)

Acceptable (A)

_**Fail Grades**_

Poor (P)

Dreadful (D)

Troll (T)

**_Ginerva Virginia Weasley has achieved: _**

AstronomyE

Care of Magical CreaturesO

CharmsO

Defense Against the Dark ArtsO

DivinationE

HerbologyO

History of MagicA

Muggle StudiesO

PotionsO

TransfigurationO

Harry could not believe his eyes as he went through Ginny's O.W.L.s. To his amazement, and soon Ron's, Ginny had not failed a single subject.

"BLOODY HELL!" he shouted as he read them, "How did you get these? I thought you said you did terrible!"

"On the written, I said. I guess it was better than I thought it was."

"I think your written exams didn't matter that much," said Hermione, "The examiners this year were more focused on the practical exams, I bet. After what has happened lately, I think they figured that was more important than the written."

"That makes sense," nodded Ginny, "The exams did seem a little different. For the practical in Defense Against the Dark Arts, they set us up in pairs and we had to duel each other."

"What? Since when did they do that?" Ron questioned at once.

"I don't know, but that was just for starters. Then we had to face stuff they thought the Death Eaters would throw at us. Inferi, Dementors…"

"They used dementors on you?" questioned Harry. Not that he was worried. He taught all of the DA members how to cast patronuses, but he never had the chance to see Ginny's and was worried on how any of the DA members would fare when pitted up against the real thing.

"Of course not. They were all illusions and such, but I know I passed those! It was the written exams I thought I failed," Ginny told him, and added with a thought, "But I knew I passed Defense Against the Dark Arts, that was no question," she said, and winked at Harry, remembering the DA practices.

"Oh Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley squealed, hugging Ginny tightly when she saw her results, "Ten O.W.L.s, I don't believe it! Only Percy and Bill scored that high!"

"Mom," chocked Ginny, trying to push her mother away, "I can't breathe!" Mrs. Weasley apologized and let Ginny catch her breath while congratulating her some more.

"Hold on," Ron said curiously when he looked at Ginny's results again, "You take Muggle Studies? I didn't know that!"

"Dad wanted me to take it," she said after she sat down and could breathe normally again, "But it is very interesting," then with a smirk she said, "At least someone in the family knows how to use a telephone properly!"

Everyone laughed. Harry and Ron especially remembered when Ron had tried to call him and ended up shouting in Mr. Vernon's ear.

Harry couldn't help but feel proud of Ginny doing so well on her O.W.L.s. He had always feared that she wouldn't do as well as she should have, because he tried to spend so much time with her last year.

But while he was thinking these thoughts, he noticed Ginny smirking at him the whole time while Ron and Hermione asked her questions about her exams. He got the message. She was trying once again to show him that she could face Voldemort with him. It wasn't working. Nothing would make him change his mind.

A day after Ginny had gotten her results, she found Harry up at two a.m. reading in the living room chair.

"Couldn't sleep?" she asked him, plopping herself down on the arm of the chair next to him.

"Bad dreams," he said, rubbing his forehead. Instantly, Ginny figured the worst, that his scar was hurting again.

"Is it your—"

"No," he told her, taking his hand away, "I've been having dreams where I'm facing Voldemort in the end, and I don't exactly win all the time."

"Well," she laughed, "You're not a seer, so don't take them to seriously."

"Still, everything's reminding me that I have to prepare for it. Dumbledore's death, these dreams, everything!"

"So you are the chosen one?" she asked him. Harry looked at her curiously. He mentally kicked himself then. He forgot that he had not yet told Ginny what he had told Ron and Hermione. They hadn't exactly hung out all the time. But now, after what they had been through, she deserved to know as much as anyone.

"Yeah, I am."

"But the prophecy was—"

"Made to Dumbledore, so he was able to show it to me," he told her, and waited for the inevitable, "what'd it say?" so he told her, trying word for word this time. On "one must die at the hand of the other," Ginny gasped, but then nodded.

"That explains your dreams," she said, "But I didn't think the prophecy said that there was a change you'd die. I always figured it just said that—"

"Yeah, I wish it didn't say that. But it does, and I've got to make sure that I'm not the one who winds up dead."

"But how are you going to do it?" she wondered aloud, "I mean, I don't think you're going to use _Avada Kedavra_ on him, right?"

Harry shook his head. He had thought about it, but although he had used an unforgivable curse in the past, using the Killing Curse was something he didn't think he was up for.

Ginny sighed and slid down the chair, and Harry realized she was now sitting comfortably on his lap, and instinctively held her close. "But it's not only Voldemort that I have to deal with," he told her, before he even knew he said it.

"What?" she said, surprised, "What exactly—"

And then he told her. About the Horcruxes, and how Voldemort had split himself into 7 different pieces, and how the diary was one of them, and Dumbledore destroyed another. All the while, Ginny sat there, amazed and yet, her thoughts drifted elsewhere, back to the diary, when Riddle was bragging about his quest to immortality.

"That makes sense. Riddle was always bragging about how he knew things most wizards didn't," she told him, "How he alone could 'break the boundaries of life itself.' I thought he was so full of himself, the prat."

"Too bad he didn't make the diary last," said Harry, "He could have told you where the others were."

"Yeah, I know. I can hardly remember everything he told me either," she laughed, and clutched Harry's pajamas tightly, "so I'd be of no use even if he did."

"It's okay Ginny, I'll find them," he said, running his fingers through her hair, "I even know where one might be."

"You mean that locket with R.A.B. on it?"

"Yeah, I just have to find him. Hermione's looking for—"

"Regulus…Augu…"

"Huh?" said, Harry, wondering just what Ginny was mumbling about. But she only half heard him, and continued to whisper to herself.

"Hey, that's it!" she exclaimed, almost toppling off Harry's lap if he didn't pull her back.

"What's it?"

"I know who has the locket!" she exclaimed, but then her face fell and she shook her head, "No, no he's dead, so it doesn't matter."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Regulus, Sirius's brother. His name fits, doesn't it? Regulus Black?"

Harry nodded, and thought for a moment about this. The name partially fit, but they didn't know his middle name, which would have been helpful. But then a thought struck him. A thought that made perfect sense…

"Ginny, you're a genius!" he shouted, and before he knew what he was doing, had pulled her close to him and was kissing her. But before he could realize what he was doing and pull away, Ginny had latched her arms around his neck and was kissing him back with added fervor. Harry closed his eyes and sank into the kiss, relishing in feeling her soft lips on his again.

"Wow," she said when they last parted, "You haven't kissed me like that since that Quidditch match we won."

Harry laughed and shook his head clear. He didn't know what had come over him just now, but whatever it was, he was glad it did. No one was around to see it, luckily, and he had wanted to kiss Ginny since he got here.

"Now, tell me again why I'm a genius," she giggled, still trying to get over her 'I just kissed Harry Potter again' high.

"I just remembered that when we were cleaning the Black house, there was this locket that we couldn't open," Harry told her, talking quickly in his excitement so Ginny had to ask him to repeat it a few times, "That's the third horcrux Dumbledore and I were trying to get! It's in the Black House somewhere!"

"Yeah!" she said after she finally got him to slow down, "I remember that! Kinda felt odd, too. Made the room quite chilly, remember?"

"How can I forget? You were clutching my arm because of that," he laughed, "Not that I minded."

"Mmmm yeah, and you're still warm, too," Ginny laughed with him, and snuggled close to Harry, and Harry did the same. It was still early in the morning, and a bit chilly at that.

"Harry?" Ginny said after a while.

"Yeah?"

"Kiss me again," she pleaded, looking up into his green eyes. Harry knew he ought to have resisted; he was supposed to not be with her anymore, so she wouldn't be a target. But with her being so close, in his arms, and the reminder of that last kiss…

Harry drew her to him, and her lips eagerly met his in a fiery kiss he could tell she had wanted to give him for a long time, and he eagerly kissed her back, clutching her as tightly as he could in the one moment.

He gasped slightly when he felt Ginny's tongue on his lips, and the sudden surprised allowed her to slip it inside to join Harry's. Soon Harry found he liked this new change and closed his eyes and joined her. Soon their tongues were dancing in mild passion, and Harry could not remember a time when he was happier.

Ginny could not tell how long she sat there kissing Harry and being kissed back, and she didn't care. This was what she wanted. It was what she had always wanted. Sure, she had snogged Dean to kingdom come, but it wasn't like _this_. This was different, this was…she didn't even know what it was, exactly, but she loved it. She didn't even care if Voldemort himself walked in on them right now and casted _Avada Kedavra_. She would die the happiest girl alive anyways. And the way his hands were caressing her…

"OI!" came a very familiar shout.

Harry and Ginny reluctantly broke apart and Ginny turned to see probably what Harry thought as someone worse than Voldemort: Ron.

"B-But you said…!" he glared angrily at Harry, and from how he was pointing his finger at him, Harry guessed Ron would really like a wand right now, "It was over you said! I had nothing to worry about!"

"What's with all the noise?" Harry heard Hermione yawn from behind Ron, "I noticed Ginny wasn't in my bed, so I came downstairs to—"

"Well, I found her!" shouted Ron, "and she was…"

"Shhhh!" Ginny pointed her finger to her lips, "We don't want anyone else finding out, do we?"

"Oh, they'll find out, all right. Wait until Fred and George hear about this!" he said, and sprinted past Hermione up the steps.

Or, at least he tried. Harry tried the only thing he could think of and shouted in his head, pointing his wand that he had left on the table, thought, _Levis Corpus!_

Ron was instantly hoisted upwards and the ceiling, and Harry saw him swear a few words, but could not hear him say anything.

"Silencing Charm," Hermione explained, "I've come to like using nonerbal spells, these days."

Harry nodded, and said in his head, _Liberacorpus_, and Hermione caught Ron when he fell, who had now calmed down enough to notice that he was going to be hexed unless he heard Harry and Ginny out.

"Look, Ron," Ginny told him once they all sat down, "Harry and I broke up so Voldemort wouldn't use me to get to him, but we know we still love each other."

"This wasn't supposed to happen," Harry explained, "We were just talking and things got a little out of hand."

"A _little_?" Ron said under his breath.

"Okay, so we got carried away," said Ginny, "but that was my fault, not Harry's, and I still can't see why you are so mad!"

"I just didn't expect it, that's all," he told her, "Harry told me you two broke up, so I didn't expect to come downstairs and see you two snogging."

"Well, don't," said Harry, looking at Ginny and hoping she wouldn't take this the wrong way, "It won't happen again. If someone other than you two saw us…"

"Yeah, maybe inside of the closet or…"

"Ginny!" Harry stared at her warningly.

"I was just joking Harry, come on!" she laughed, poking him at his sides. Ron shook his head at them, muttering something under his breath that earned him a slap from Hermione.

But all of the excitement of the morning's activities was doused by two things. The first was the recent bit of information Ginny and Harry had thought up before they had gotten "carried away."

"Wow, nice work Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed when Ginny told her about her theory, "Why didn't I think of Regulus?"

"It's because you're so used to looking stuff up in books," Ron told her, making her glare at him angrily at this thought, "Not everything's found in books, Hermione."

Ginny thought that Ron had definitely earned pillow bash to his head, though she thought Hermione only did it playfully, "Well what exactly did you do to help, Mr. Know-It-All!"

"I was just saying…"

Harry and Ginny shook their heads. "Just like a married couple, huh Harry?" Harry nodded, thinking roughly the same thing.

The second thing that was brought to their attention was their booklists and letters from Hogwarts.

"Wonder why these are so late?" Ron wondered as he opened his, "Usually we get them in the beginning of August."

"It's because of the choosing of Headmaster and a few changes at Hogwarts," said Hermione, "There's a note from McGonagall at the bottom."

"Hey, what's up with our booklists?" Ginny questioned. Harry curiously looked over his list, and saw at the end of it what Ginny was talking about.

Students may also choose to buy one of the following books:

_Advanced Dueling Tatics_ by Saera Goth and Ashura Atsu

_Potion Mastery_ By Shantani Felidus

_Seeing Through the Skull_ By Gregory Auntem

_Ancient Spells of Lore_ By Andrew Clarkson

_Spells for Everyday Living_ By Amelia Burntheart

Several other books were listed as well, and he soon found himself chatting with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny on what books, if any, they would want to buy.

"Well, they are optional, aren't they?" said Ron, "doesn't look as though I'll be getting any now, will I?"

"Oh, hush," said Ginny, "I'm sure Fred and George wouldn't mind giving us a small bit of gold for those. Especially if you tell them you're going to get that _1o1 Practical Jokes Worty of Detention _book."

"Wouldn't mind that one, actually," he chuckled, "But can't use it on Malfoy anymore, can I? oh well," and he smirked at Harry, "I'll just have to use it on you in case you 'get carried away' again."

Harry laughed and silently looked forward to it if it meant Ron wouldn't get mad at him anymore for being with Ginny. Personally, he was wondering about _Seeing Through the Skull_. He wondered if it was a book on Occlumency and if he would actually be learning any of these subjects on the list.

"It is rather odd, isn't it?" said Hermione, "I wonder if these are all for one class."

"How can these be all for one class?" questioned Ginny, "With this many books, they must be for several different classes. But who's teaching?"

"Beats me," said Ron, and looked at Harry and knew why he didn't care one bit. He, Ron and Hermione knew that they had planned not to go to Hogwarts this year. But if there was a class for Occlumency, it might not be a waste of time after all.

A/N: whew! I wrote myself into a corner on that one! Of course you can't see it because I deleted the small scene. You didn't miss much, just a little bit of Ginny vs. Ron humor, but it stopped me writing for 1 ½ weeks! Anyways, Happy New Year! Sorry it took so long, and to make up for it, you're getting a bonus chapter that I worked on while I was at my little brick wall of a story. So enjoy! Read/Review please, or else I'll just keep these chapters to myself for a while…

Also, since I have a much better vision for this fanfic, but I don't think those of you with weak stomachs can handle, this story will also be on at (adultfanfiction . net) under my user name of (Ashura) starting at the next chapter. On it will be scenes in more ahem detail, more violence in future chapters, lemon scenes (if you don't know what that is yet, then don't even dare go there yet), added scenes, and a whole bunch of other stuff that normal people under 18 just aren't ready for.

Oh, and if you do go there, don't check out the other HP stuff there. Trust me, you wouldn't want to. They have the most weirdest fanfiction…shudders Anyways, enjoy the fic.


	4. Detour

Disclaimer: No warnings needed for now. But in case you didn't catch the source for the darker, 'lemony,' more "adult" version,it's on (adultfanfiction . net) under my profile (Ashura).For those of you under 18, enjoy the fic!

Harry Potter and the Daughter of War

By Ashura

Chapter 04: Detour

That night, Harry found sleep torture for him. Recently, his dreams had come in several forms: reliving Dumbledore's death, dying at Voldemort's hand, and dreams of Ginny Weasley. His dreams of Dumbledore had come to a close once he had gotten over the shock, and his and Ginny's recent discovery of Regulus Black had resulted in victories in the Voldemort dreams.

His dreams of Ginny, however, had gotten much more vivid after he had shared that wonderful kiss with Ginny. He hoped Ron wouldn't buy _Seeing Through the Skull_, for fear of looking inside Harry's mind at this moment.

But his dreams that night were cut short by several loud mutterings downstairs. Unable to get to sleep with the irritating noises and his curiousity getting the better of him, Harry got out of bed and sneaked out to check it out.

"Morning, Harry," he heard a voice say. He turned to see Hermione, who was just passing his and Ron's room, "I take it you heard them too, huh?"

He nodded and heard a small yawn behind Hermione. It belonged to Ginny, who had just awoken, her hair in a chaotic mess on her head, but for some reason, made her look incredibly sexy to Harry. As he wondered why, he remembered his recent dream of Ginny and blushed at the thought.

"Is something wrong, Harry?" Hermione questioned, at looked behind her at Ginny, and smirked/winked at her. Ginny blushed and blew a raspberry at her. All this was unnoticed by Harry.

"No, nothing, Hermione. What's going on?"

"Beats me. Ron has those extendable ears, not me."

"Go get them, will you?" requested Ginny, rubbing her eyes a little to wake up, "I want to hear what's going on."

Harry darted back into his room, eager to focus his mind on something besides sexy-woken up Ginny, and searched for the Extendable Ears in Ron's trunk.

"Whaddya doing, Harry?" Ron muttered, "You woke me up, you…"

"Where did you put those Extendable Ears?" he asked him, "Something's going on downstairs."

"Oh, here, I'll get them."

Soon they had four extendable ears, but they needn't have done so. Before they could send them down the stairs, Mrs. Weasley had gone up herself.

"Ah, good, I see you're up already," she said when she had reached them, "Harry's supposed to come downstairs, but the rest of you can too, if you'd like. It'll be morning soon, anyways."

When the came downstairs, they saw a bunch of people from the Order there as well. Tonks, Lupin, Mad-Eye, and Professor McGonagall were there already. Harry wondered what exactly was so important down here.

"Ah, Harry, glad to see you awake," McGonagall said cheerfully, "I'm sorry we didn't call you sooner, but we didn't want to wake you up too early."

Harry gulped, and hoped none of the members could use Legimency right now. Secretly, he wished they had woken him up sooner so that he didn't have to have these sudden urges to see his recent dreams as reality.

"We were discussing," she continued, "Dumbledore's will."

An eerie silence filled the room at the mention of his name and the word "will" following it. It was another reminder that he was gone. After a few moments, Harry managed to ask, "What'd it say?"

"Well for one thing," she answered, "It said that Hogwarts should remain open should he be gone, and it named a new headmaster."

"Really?" Harry exclaimed, "Who?"

"Beats me. I've never heard of him."

"I have," said Mad-Eye from across the room, "he's nobody famous, but say his name among Death Eaters and then you've got something. He's one of the only people who's turned down a Death Eater offer and lived to tell about it."

"More like brag," chuckled Lupin.

"Yes, quite right!" he agreed, "Anyways, he's headmaster, and a good choice, too, if Death Eaters won't touch him."

"You mean Voldemort's scared of him, too, like Dumbledore?" asked Harry, but Lupin shook his head.

"Beats me how Voldemort feels about him. The two don't tend to cross paths. Probably prefer to stay out of the other's way," said Lupin, "But he's as powerful a wizard as Dumbledore, from what they say. Heard Dumbledore taught him for a time, too."

"So what about the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" asked Ron, "Has one been selected?"

"Yes," answered McGonagall, "the new headmaster picked one out immediately and he has agreed to take the job."

"But besides that," said Tonks, grinning at Harry, "You were mentioned in the will, too, Harry."

"Me?" he said, surprised. Sure, he and Dumbledore were close, but to be mentioned in his will, "What did it say about me?"

"Well, Dumbledore requested that you must finish your education at Hogwarts, should he die before then," McGonagall told him, "and visit his new portrait once in a while for tea."

Harry chuckled at that last comment. It sounded like the sort of thing Dumbledore would request. He wondered whether he would be able to visit his portrait anyways, if he did go back to Hogwarts. Now it seemed he was going to have to, since it was Voldemort's wishes.

"And you have inherited a great bit of gold from him, as well," Lupin beamed at Harry. Harry's jaw dropped.

"He left me all of his—"

"Well, not all of it. He asked that you get a small portion of it," said Lupin, "The Order, of course, gets some of it, so does the Wealseys as well. And some other people I don't know."

"We couldn't possibly accept it though…" said Mrs. Weasley, but Professor McGonagall hushed her.

"Nonsense, Molly! Dumbledore would have insisted that you take it," she said, "And Harry better too, on that matter."

"Well, all right," she agreed finally, "But I think it should go to each of the children. And maybe a nice vacation for all of us."

"That's the spirit!" agreed Lupin.

"And another thing, Harry," said Professor McGonagall, and brought out a small package, "Several other things were left to you. Although his manor has been left to someone else, it says that you may have your pick of anything inside. I'm sure you will want to go and do that before the new owners…"

"Who are they, anyways?" Harry asked, "The new owners?"

"It doesn't say. It only says, 'The new owner of my estate shall discover that he/she is the owner in due time, and without doubt,'" McGonagall recited, "and you were left this."

She brought out a small, brown package and gave it to Harry, "he asked that you open it privately."

"I understand," Harry agreed, but already knew what was in it. It was the gold ring that was previously a Horcrux, and Harry knew just what to do with it. When he had destroyed all of the Horcruxes, he was going to display them before Voldemort as trophies. He chuckled inside at the thought.

"Well, with that over with," said Mr. Weasley, "Let us have breakfast and then we can go to Diagon Alley and get all of your school supplies."

With all of the guests at the table, breakfast was surprisingly cheerful, and Harry felt that their trip to Diagon Alley would be a pleasant one.

As usual, Harry had to be escorted to Diagon Alley with Aurors, and was happy to see that Hagrid would be accompanying him again.

"This new headmaster seems ter be an okay fello'," Hagrid said to Harry when they had greeted each other, "Jus' like Dumbledore, he said that I'd do. He even said ter them, "Ye're wasting yer time with this Auror protection business. If You-Know-Who shows up in Diagon Alley, I dou' anyone but 'The Chosen One' is going ter stand a chance.

"'And 'arry Potter can handle Death Eaters,' he said, 'Why, look at that scene at Hogwarts! From what I 'ear, Potter jus' pushed his way past those idiots on his pursuit o' Dumbledore's killer!'" Hagrid continued, "Wow, did yeh really, Harry?"

"Yeah, I guess I did," he smiled, quite proud of himself now, "I was just in a rage I guess. Didn't think of getting hurt much."

"Aye, mark of a strong duelist, that is," Hagrid beemed, "Keeps his mind on the battle, notin else. I agree with im. I think You-Know-Who might jus' have a ruf time with yeh yet."

"Ginny, are you alright?" asked Hermione behind him. Ginny shot her an annoyed look and muttered, "Yes, I'm fine Hermione. I, um, just thought I'd see Luna here. She said she'd meet me."

They finally reached Flourish and Blotts and sure enough, as Harry expected, the optional new books were lined up for them to pick. He picked up _Seeing Through the Skull_ and sure enough, there was a chapter on Occlumency in there. He picked it up eagerly.

"Well, that just bites," said Ron next to him, "I was going to take _Advanced Dueling Tatics_. Seems like I need to get a heads up in my dueling. Fred and George just keep beating me."

"Don't worry, Ron," said Ginny, picking up the same book, "I'll be in your class, too."

"What makes you think we'll be in the same class? You're a year younger."

"It might not matter," Hermione said, picking up _Ancient Spells of Lore_, "There might be so few students, there's only one class. Or maybe only a handful can get in."

"You're not going to be in the same class either, Hermione?" Ron said, looking quite crestfallen.

"Well, I figure it might be best for us to take separate classes and share information," she said, "I'm sure I'll be able to find a spell to destroy the 'you know what's' with this class."

They nodded, knowing she was talking about the Horcruxes. "Speaking of which," Harry said, leading them into a private corner when they got out of Flourish and Blotts and paid for their books, "What did you find out about the founder's items?"

"Well," Hermione said, "I found out that—"

"Oooh, I think I saw Luna!" exclaimed Ginny before Hermione could speak, "I'll catch you guys later," and she darted out of sight to a young blonde-haired girl in the distance.

She looked behind her at the sight of them all huddled together listening to Hermione. Her mom and dad were busy talking with Hermione's parents, so no one noticed her slip away. She would ask Harry what Hermione found out later.

For now, she raced towards a young blonde-haired girl and stopped next to her for a few seconds unnoticed. Looking back again to check, Ginny walked right past the girl who was clearly not Luna and headed down a darkened street and out of sight.

Ginny slinked along the alleyways of Diagon Alley, looking over her shoulder for any sign of Harry or the others following her. Luckily, there was no sign of them and she blew a side of relief.

As she ventured further and further into the alleyway labyrinth, she noticed the sky begin to darken. The air became thin and cold, causing her to shiver and grip her robes tighter.

_Yup. I'm in the right place, all right._

She flipped the hood of her robes over her head, and continued down the narrow passages. Her eyes darted to each person she passed, watching each of their movements, careful not to…

"Hey!"

…bump into anyone.

"Watch where you're going, you little runt!" the grey-haired witch screeched, drawing her wand and shoving it straight at Ginny's face, "I should hex you right now just for that!"

Ginny glared at her, staring at the huge wart at the end of her nose. She calmly reached into her robes and pulled out her own wand, making the old witch's eyes widen.

"You let me draw my wand," Ginny said coolly, "Either you are very brave or you really have little dueling experience. Now stand aside before I make that extra nose of yours grow even bigger."

The old woman scrunched her face up in disgust, but Ginny did not move. With a loud, "Hmph!", she sheathed her wand inside her robes and stomped past Ginny.

Grinning to herself, Ginny moved on, putting her wand away so as not to cause more trouble. _That wasn't too bad_, she thought. Despite her cheery nature, she always remained deathly serious with dealing with dark wizards. _I guess I have to thank Tom for that._

Finally, after seeming like walking forever, she finally reached her destination. There, in a small corner she almost missed, was a small run-down shack that looked like it should have been condemned years ago. A sign on the door was the only marking that it was still in use:

_Shop of the Under-Realm_

We sell anything under the moon…

Just don't ask where we got it.

She sighed and shook her head at the sign. Yup. This was definitely the place. She gently stepped up the creaking steps and carefully opened the door.

"YOU BLODDY CON-ARTIST! JUST WHO DO YOU TAKE ME FOR!" a voice bellowed from inside, almost causing Ginny to back up and fall on the steps.

"I told you. I have no need for such things," she heard the shopkeeper mutter, "My clients have no interest in these."

"How dare you! I am Lucius Malfoy! I—"

"Yes, yes. I know who you are. But who you are doesn't matter here. Only your money and merchandise. And, seeing as these are of no use to me, I will just have to…Ah! I see you've found me!"

Lucius Malfoy spun around to come face to face with Ginny. Well, sort of. Her face was hidden by a reddish mask she had transfigured at the last moment. She thanked the shopkeeper for waiting until she had done so before addressing her.

"Now, Malfoy, if that is all you have for me, I shall bid you good day."

But Lucius Malfoy was not going to give in so easily, she noted. Her leaned over the counter and looked the shopkeeper dead in the eye, "You know who I work for, don't you? I could destroy your little…"

"Go right ahead. I don't care what you and your Death Eaters decide to do to my shop. It doesn't matter in the end. I just do this on the side."

They stared at each other, neither making a sound for several moments, before Lucius turned around sharply and, giving Ginny one last glare, stormed out the door and into Knockturn Alley.

"I never liked him," the merchant muttered under his breath, "Such an unlikable character."

"Me neither. Met his son yet?"

"Unfortunately, yes," he laughed with her, "But I don't think you would come here just to chat with me, right?"

"Naturally. I suppose you already know, but my situation has gotten…"

"Worse? Yes, I do know. Your relationship with _him_ has put you in a very dangerous position. You are already a target for Voldemort as it is. Maybe if you lay low for a while…"

"You know I don't do that."

"Of course. Well, have the books I sold you last year working?"

She laughed again, "More than you know. I just had to tell you in person before term starts! I aced my O.W.L.s!"

"With those books, of course you did! Now, let me see your book list," he suggested, and Ginny instantly showed him her list without hesitation. "Hmmm, which one on this list did you pick?"

"Advanced Dueling, of course," she smirked, "What else would I choose?"

"Naturally," he chuckled, and looked over the rest of the list, "Hmm…these books won't do at all. How uninteresting. These don't teach you a thing! Now these, on the other hand," he waved his hand towards the wall behind him and several books piled up in front of her, "Are high-quality stuff!"

Ginny browsed through a couple of them, entitled, "_To Beat a Dark Wizard, Think Like a Dark Wizard_ By Renald Stoneheim, _Potions Explained Easily_ By Thomas Marley, _Zap! That's Transfiguration_ By Juliet Mucksbord…"

"These look far more interesting!" Ginny exclaimed, "And they explain it so well. Not like my boring Hogwarts books!"

"I figured. Special pre-school special. Only 5 Galleons!"

"Deal!" she said, pulling out her bag and handing him five gold coins.

"Wow! So easily! If only the rest of your family could…"

"I just happen to be _lucky_," she grinned.

"Yes, I remember. You just wait little lady. Luck comes in circles, you know. Especially in gambling."

"As long as my bad luck doesn't happen when I do gamble, I'll just deal with it," she said, and pocketed her books, "What else do you have for me?"

"Anything you're looking for, my dear?" he asked, and watched as Ginny walked around the room, staring at all kinds of items.

"I want an advantage," she told him, "Something to keep me one step above the Death Eaters."

"Hmmm…" the shop-keep muttered, rubbing his chin in thought, "Ah! I know!"

Ginny watched as he ducked into the backroom, and had to duck herself when he started throwing all sorts of things at her.

"I know I put it in here somewhere!" he shouted, cursing to himself as he searched through boxes upon boxes, "I knew we should have put a labeling system up, but NO! I had to be a lazy son of a—ah! Here we are!"

He returned with a small shoe-sized box, and opened them to show her…

"Gloves?" she questioned, picking them up and examing them. They were quite nice, though. They were made of touch material (_better than the stuff we use for Quidditch, I bet_), but they were very light. The outer rim was laced with gold, ending with gold spikes at the top.

"Not just any gloves. _Dueling Gloves_!"

Now she was interested, "Dueling Gloves?"

"Precisely. Or 'Gauntlets,' as me and my colleges prefer. Here, see," he rolled up his sleeves to reveal similar looking ones, though these were outlined with what looked like silver, and two tiny blades at his wrist, "I wear a pair, myself. They're not cheap, I can tell you that! Usually duelists get them at discounts, depending on how good they are."

"But what do they _do_?" she questioned him, knowing there had to be something more to them than just the design.

"They let you do _wandless magic_," he said, instantly making Ginny's eyes widen in interest, leaning closer to hear him better, "See that red orb there?"

Ginny looked at the gloves again. On one of them (the one for her right hand), there was a small red gem on the top part of the hand. It contrasted well with the gold outlining.

"You place your wand on top of that and it absorbs the focusing and amplifying powers of it. then you can do magic and not have to worry about that ridiculous _Expelliarmus_ rtubbish!"

"It's brilliant!" she exclaimed.

"Please, that's not even the half of it!" he laughed, and Ginny stared at him with an expression that seemed to scream out, "_There's more?_"

"These gloves also come equipped with a very powerful shield charm. They block medium-level spells, elemental, and spells that affect the mind. Plus, your spells are cast twice as fast, and allow you to use wordless spells much easier."

"Oh my…"

"The gloves, as you can plainly tell, are made of light, but strong material. The gold is made of a special custom made gold that's very light, but strong (yes it's made from real gold, silly girl!) and that is bonefied dragon hide! Made from already-dead dragons, might I add. And, there's a recent added bonus."

"Bonus?" she exclaimed, perplexed. She was wondering, with all of these added features, if she could even afford them.

"Each glove is able to store one spell in memory. A muggle-born thought of it. Just tell it a spell to store and it shall remember it (you can always change it, though). I would suggest using a passive spell on one of them, like a speed charm, or something."

Ginny gulped as she heard this and, before the man could say any more, she questioned, "How much?"

He sighed, "Like I said, these gloves are sold at bargains to good duelists. What have you got?"

"hmmm," she reached into her pocket and revealed a large bag, "here's 150 galleons. I won that off of my brothers in a duel!"

"Hmmm, off a duel, eh? Fine, that'll do. Just make sure they go to good use."

"Oh, I will!" she cried happily, and eagerly slipped them on. She took out her wand and set it upon the sparkling ruby orb. In a flash, her wand disappeared into the glove, and another flash reflected into the other.

"Go on, try a spell."

She nodded, and held her gloved palm up and muttered, "_Lumos_!" Ginny almost jumped back in surprise; her hand suddenly glowed pure white, lighting up the room with its brightness. Not wanting to upset the shopkeeper, she quickly closed her palm and extinguished the light.

"W-wow! It really works!" she exclaimed in amazement, admiring the gloves with a new sense of amazement.

"My dear, I would gladly rip-off Malfoy, but not _you_!" he laughed, "When I first met you in Hogsmeade after you ditched that clinger of a boyfriend of yours, I immediately knew you were going to be one of my best customers. I don't cheat people I like or respect."

"Well, with all of the duels I'm going to win, you'll respect me soon enough," she mocked.

"My dear, I respected you the second I saw you ditch Dean Thomas!" with that, the two shared a hearty laugh at the thought.

"It's a shame I have to get back soon, though," she said, "Now, is there anything else you can show me?"

"Actually," he muttered, and turned around to pick up a book from off the shelf behind him, "I think I just may have something that may interest you."

"If it's anything like the gloves—"

"It's better than the gloves," he told her, and instantly Ginny was interested again, "This is the book to beat all books!"

"You've got to be—"

"I'm not," he said, looking her dead in the eye, a serious expression on his covered face, "Voldemort himself is after this book."

"What?"

"I'm not joking. Voldemort himself ordered a shipment of these very books—the only ones in existence—just for himself and his most trusted Death Eaters."

"Why would Voldemort want a book so badly?"

"Because this book contains every spell known to wizards!" he exclaimed, "Not to mention a few other bits of handy information. The Magical Animal chapter has been my favorite for a while now. Did you know that griffens were actually…"

Ginny stepped back a couple steps, and instantly started laughing, "But it's so small! And how can one book contain…"

"My girl, you're a witch! Get with the bloody program! It's enchanted to look like that!" he shouted at her, "Here, I'll show you. Cmere."

Rolling her eyes in disbelief, Ginny sat back down near the counter, the merchant opening the book halfway. She looked at him again, puzzled. The pages were blank. "This book is picky at what it shows. You have to ask it. Watch. Ahem. _Fire spells_!"

As soon as he said this, the book got bigger, and the pages illuminated a bit until they rested at a normal black color. "_Blasting charm…Combustion Curse…Embers of…_Wow…"

"Told you."

"I'll take it! Oh, and maybe one for my boyfriend!"

"I can only give you one, and I would advise you to keep it to yourself!"

"Why?" she questioned him.

"Because Voldemort _still_ wants these! It's dangerous for me to have them here as it is!"

"Then why did you steal them in the first place!"

"My dear, if you could steal them, wouldn't you?" he laughed, "You think I would let something like _this_ fall into the hands of Voldemort? Of course not!"

Ginny stared at the book. It would be dangerous indeed if she kept it, for Voldemort would want them back. But then again, it would be quite useful…

"How much?" she asked, "Considering the danger, I suppose they're cheap, right?"

"Even with that discount, they're still expensive," he told her, "500 Galleons!"

"WHAT!"

"Hey, I only have 16 of those. I have to sell them high. Supply and demand, my dear."

"Aw, come on! I only have 150…no, wait…200! I forgot about my duel with Harry."

"You are a gambler, aren't you? But I can't even give it to you for that. Unless…"

"Unless what?"

"Well, I'd like to test your luck, if you don't mind. If you win, I'll give you the book for 200 galleons!"

"Really! All right, I accept your—"

"But if I win, you give me the 200 galleons for nothing!"

"What? Hardly a good wager, I'd say."

"Fine, fine. I'll give you one other thing in the store, free of charge," he bargained, "Think of it as a 'buy one, get one free' deal."

"Alright, I accept. What's your game?"

The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of cards.

"Muggle playing cards?"

"Ah, I see you're familiar with them."

"A friend of mine is Muggle-born," she told him proudly, "She taught me to play a few games when we were bored."

"Do you know how to play Poker?"

"Yes. That's the first game she taught me."

"Excellent, excellent!" he cried happily, "That's what we'll be playing, then. Best two out of three wins."

"Deal," she said, quite literally.

The first hand Ginny won quite nicely, with her two queens beating his two tens. The next hand he won after Ginny tried for a straight, and failed.

"Isn't it interesting," he said as he dealt out the last hand, "How wizards play chess and exploding snap, and muggles develop a set of cards that can be played in over 500 different ways?"

"That won't help you beat me, though."

"We'll see," he said, and gave Ginny the two cards she asked for, "I win," she said.

"How do you know?"

"I know. Two pair!" she exclaimed, showing him her hand.

"Rats."

"YES!" she happily cried out, jumping for joy.

"Yes, yes. Here's your blasted book, now stop gloating and select your free item!"

"Hmmmm…" she walked around the stop, eying each item carefully, "Hey, what's this? It has a badger on it! Is it…"

"Hufflepuff's? Yes, actually. Swiped that off a bunch of idiot Death Eaters guarding it. Figured it had to be special of some sort for them to have it."

"Hmmm…" she said, examining the object. It was a small cup, made of pure gold by the looks of it. The handles had a beautiful, if not dusty, design, and she found she rather liked it. in the center sat the engraving of a peaceful looking badger.

But Ginny also felt something odd about this cup. Her fingers felt cold, colder than what she felt when she entered Knockturn Alley. As she gripped the cup, she could hear a faint whisper in her ear, much like…"

"I'll take it," she said quite plainly, and chanted a shrinking charm on it (_I love these gloves!_) and thanked the shopkeeper and left.

"Wait Ginny," he called after her and slipped a note in her hand, "I suggest you look this up in that book of yours before pouring yourself a cup of tea."

She nodded, "I will, thanks," she said, and left the dark streets of Knockturn Alley with her new items. But before she could completely leave the gloomy alleyways, she bumped into a familiar-looking blonde-haired girl.

"Luna?" she said, surprised. Luna turned around and happily greeted Ginny with a, "Oh, hello Ginny! I didn't expect to see you in here, but actually…"

"Well, _his_ shop is in here, and I just had to get a few things," she said, and Luna understood what she was talking about.

"Well, we'll see him in Hogsmeade soon enough, won't we?"

"Yes, of course. So why are you here?"

"Dad got a tip off about a rumor of a Tri-horned Hippogriff, but we got separated in a croud and I got terribly lost," she said sadly, "But I've found you, so it should be alright now."

"I hope so," said Ginny, and shuddered, "I just want to get back to the others. They must be looking for me and you by now."

"And me? Why me?"

"Had to fake that I was meeting you to get away," she explained, "So let's get back before they really do start worrying. By the way, how'd you do on your O.W.L.s?"

"Here," Luna said, and handed Ginny her results, "dad was so proud of me."

"Here," Ginny responded, and showed Luna hers as well, "We'll switch em," and she looked over Luna's O.W.L. results.

**Ordinary Wizarding Level Results**

_**Pass Grades**_

Outstanding (O)

Exceeds Expectations (E)

Acceptable (A)

_**Fail Grades**_

Poor (P)

Dreadful (D)

Troll (

_**Luna Emily Lovegood has achieved:**_

AstronomyE

Care of Magical CreaturesO

CharmsE

Defense Against the Dark ArtsE

DivinationO

HerbologyO

History of MagicP

PotionsD

TransfigurationE

"Nice. Figured you'd ace Divination. It was your favorite subject," Ginny told her.

"Yes, it was. And you did very well as well, Ginny," Luna exclaimed as she looked over Ginny's and swapped them back, "I knew you'd be top at everything. Good ol' magnificent Ginny Weasley."

"Oh, Luna, you praise me too much," laughed Ginny, "at least think of a better name for me!"

"Oh fine," Luna said sadly and perked up saying, "How's 'Hex Mistress' sound to you?"

"Sounds brilliant! I think that one's gonna…"

But just then she froze. They were almost out of Knockturn Alley when she saw it. The black hoods. Five or six of them. Death Eaters.

"well, well, what do we have here?" sneered the first, "Two young girls in Knockturn Alley? How curious."

"Lost your way, dearies?" laughed another, a witch this time.

"Don't worry," boomed a third, much larger one, "We'll send them on their way."

"To where, we just won't tell!" and this made all of them laugh.

Ginny saw Luna reach for her wand behind her, and Ginny almost did but then realized she didn't have to; she was still wearing her new dueling gauntlets.

"Hey, I recognize this one!" one of them exclaimed, "She was at Hogwarts! She was like a little rabbit, always hopping two are fro at my curses, till that stupid Potter jumped in!"

"Well, we ought to finish the job, haven't we?" smirked the first.

"Don't even bother. I'd rather just kill her now!" he exclaimed, and pushed past the others, who gladly let him through, "She's irked me for the last time."

"Ginny, no…" said Luna behind her, and Ginny gulped. Her knees were shaking. Her heart was beating uncontrollably. She didn't know what to do. The alleyway was small. There was no where to go, and little room to dodge the curse, not with Luna next to her. She was trapped.

"_Avada Kedavra!"_ he shouted, and a flash of green lit off from his wand. Ginny braced herself for the impact, but instead was thrown out of the way as the blast hit not her, but Luna.

"LUNA!" she cried, but it was too late. With Luna's wand pointed at the ground, she didn't have time to counter it directly, and she watched in horror as the curse hit its mark. But before Ginny could even react, the force of the curse had sent Luna's now lifeless body backwards on top of Ginny's, hitting the hard wall behind her.

A/N: Yes, I know. Right now you are probably hating me for the obvious reason and that this is a cliffhanger. Yes, I feel you. I will work on Chapter 5 right away. But since I hate cliffhangers, too, here's a preview:

_Harry's eyes widened. The once dark, gloomy streets of Knockturn Alley were now glowing in red and yellow flames. People were running everywhere, screaming, calling for help. Shops lay burnt. Buildings halfway towards collapsing. He could see many people getting treated, and many carried away on stretchers. Could Death Eaters really do all this?_

REVIEW!


	5. Aftermath

Disclaimer: Okay, this is why it gets the M rating kiddies! There's gory descriptions in here, so be warned, okay? I'm sorry it took me so long again, but here it is, as promised!

But first…

Many thanks to my beta, **Kittykat** for all of her editing! Though it takes us about a week for editing, since I only see her three days a week and she never checks her email. Oh, and yes, Snape (or "Sewy," as you like to call him) will appear later in the fic.

Response to reviews:

**Comet Moon: **Dunno if Harry learns lessons in respect, but Ginny will definitely not be a tag along!

**Stylin' Fire: **You know, I was going to do that, but it makes for a much better story if Harry's still a blind idiot. At least, maybe he'll wake up for short instances.

**Kalari:** …someone misses me. And I would email you, if I knew your email. I'll call you later.

642 hits and I only get Nine reviews! Come on people! With only a rating, I think I need to get something good going for me. Well, at least I'm on the C2 Classics list. I hope I can still meet their expectations! I hope this'll be a classic, since I'm planning a big future for this one.

On to the story!

Harry Potter and the Daughter of War

By Ashura

Chapter Five: Aftermath

"Well?" Ron asked when they all huddled together, "Don't keep us in suspense here!"

"Well…" she began, taking a deep breath, "I was looking around to find out information on R.A.B., but I couldn't find anything about that. So I started to look for information on the four founders to see if any items that belonged to them that exist."

"I take it you found something?" asked Harry, immediately liking where Hermione was taking this.

She smiled and continued, "Yes, I did. But no specific details," she said with a sigh, "See, each of the founders had one object they treasured above all else. And each of them hid it somewhere within Hogwarts."

"Oh, that's just great!" exclaimed Ron, "So now we have to go on a bloody scavenger hunt at school!"

"It's not any different than searching the globe for the two remaining objects and a locket, is it?" Hermione shot back.

"Yeah, but I bet it's hidden so that only a true member of the house can find it or something, right?"

"Not necessarily, Ron. What if…"

"He's got a point, though Hermione," Harry agreed, "If I was them, I would have done the same thing. We can't just ask the Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs to give us a tour of their dorms."

"Yes, but we do have someone that can do it for us," said Hermione, beaming.

"Who's that?" asked Ron, confused at why Hermione was giving him such an angry look.

"Luna, of course! Have you forgotten she's a Ravenclaw?"

"Ohhh!" he said, only now remembering, "I forgot about her!"

"You inconsiderate prat!" she yelled at him, "I can't believe you…"

Harry rolled his eyes and backed off a little from them. He wasn't in the mood for another one of their senseless rows. Trying to block them out of his head, he started to think about what they had just went over.

The items were at Hogwarts. Great. No matter how much he tried to leave Hogwarts, there always seemed to be something to pull him back in. But the search for the items might just be in vain, after all. Voldemort already had gotten a Slytherin item, and Harry guessed the Gryffindor sword was the item hidden in Hogwarts. And Voldemort had already hidden the cup elsewhere. That left Ravenclaw.

He thought about using Luna to get it, as Hermione suggested, but he doubted even that would work. Somehow Luna just didn't seem Ravenclaw enough to pull it off, whatever "it" was. They needed a plan "B," just in case she wasn't able to do it.

Then he thought of Cho, which made him shudder just thinking about it. But she was in Ravenclaw…

No. It wouldn't work. She was too embarrassed to look at him now, and he didn't quite trust her after that incident with Maria. The only Ravenclaw he could think of at the moment was Padma, Parvati's sister, but since her sister was Gryffindor, he didn't know just how Ravenclaw Padma really was.

Perhaps someone else he knew had a friend who was in Ravenclaw. Ginny, after all, hung out with different people than he, Ron, and Hermione. Maybe she knew someone else besides Luna who…

He looked around the streets, searching for her. But to his surprise, she could not be found. But she was just there with them! She had gone to meet Luna…

He had seen her run to meet a girl that looked like Luna to him, but they had not returned. She had gone awfully far to meet her, too…

"Hey Ron, have you seen Ginny?" Harry asked him curiously, but Ron shook his head.

"I thought she was going to meet Luna," he said, "You don't think she's…"

"She's not back yet," Harry stated, looking around the streets worriedly, "She might be…"

"No!" Hermione retorted, "She just has to be around here! Ginny!"

"Ginny!" shouted Ron down the streets. Harry and Hermione continued to do the same. But there was no answer. Only the sounds of shuffling feet and idle chatter as those around them continued shopping obliviously.

They searched every shop they could think of. Even the Leaky Cauldron. Harry once thought he saw her, but it was just another redhead. Other than that, there was no sign of Ginny anywhere.

"Where could she be?" asked a frantic and worried Hermione, "I've looked everywhere!"

"I think I've seen every inch of Diagon Alley now," said Ron, "But she's not here."

"M-Maybe she's somewhere else," said Hermione, "like another alley, or…"

"Either way, she'll be alive," said Harry, trying to make sense of the situation without going completely insane over worrying, "The only reason the Death Eaters would want her is to get to me. They'll keep her alive for as long as possible."

"But if they have got her," said Ron, thinking the same thing, "Wouldn't they have sent you a ransom or something?"

"Just what are you kids talking about?" asked Mr. Weasley, "you kids are really starting to worry your mom and I, not to mention Hagrid."

"Just what do you think you've been doing!" yelled an angry Mrs. Weasley, "Running all over Diagon Alley like a bunch of 5 year-olds!"

"Well, you see…" said Ron, trying to come up with an excuse.

"We thought we saw Malfoy," Harry said immediately, "I'm sorry I got Ron and Hermione into it, but I couldn't stop myself from…"

"It's okay, Harry," said Mrs. Weasley, patting him on the shoulder with the usual motherly smile she always gave him, "We know. Now, come on, let's go. If you can chase Death Eaters around, you must have gotten your books already. Now where's your sister?"

"Ummm…"

Before anyone could think of an excuse to give her, they heard a loud explosion in the distance. They whippedtheir heads towards the direction of the blast. Harry could see smoke rising rapidly above the shop roofs, not too far from where they were standing.

"Harry, you don't think…"

But Harry didn't have time to answer Hermione and raced past them towards the source of the explosion. He felt himself bump into several people, but ignored their cursing and he raced onwards. He turned left. He turned right. Right again. Darting this way and that through every street, searching for even the tiniest sign. He didn't know where he was going, but the smell of smoke was getting stronger, so he knew he must be close.

He just hoped Ginny was alright. Even as he used all of his energy to sprint down the narrow pathways, he could feel a slight pain in his heart he knew wasn't from all that running. He didn't know what he would do if Ginny had died in that blast. Ron, Hermione, Ms. Weasley, and everyone else would know he was to blame for this, and they would be right. He would deserve it, too.

The sky was getting darker, and he suddenly felt very cold. The streets seemed familiar somehow, like he'd been here before, but still he had no idea where he was. It wasn't until he came across a battered torn away sign of a shop that he realized where he was: Knockturn Alley.

At that moment, several screams suddenly knocked him out of his shock. He noticed Ron and Hermione were catching up to him, but he had no time to wait. He sprinted onward, the screams settling in a dark place in the pit of his stomach. He had a bad feeling about this…

And then, he left the dark, narrow streets to come across a clearing. He stopped suddenly, and felt Ron and Hermione bump into him.

"Hey Harry, why did you—" Ron began to ask, but fell silent at the sight that greeted him past Harry's shoulders.

Harry's eyes widened. The once dark, gloomy streets of Knockturn Alley were now glowing in red and yellow flames. Everywhere he looked he could see people either wounded or dead. Most of them dead. Bodies were thrown up in unusual and haunting positions that he knew would be in his nightmares for years. Limbs were lying on the ground, some of them still burning. Could Death Eaters really do all this?

He desperately looked around for some form of life, hoping someone could tell him what had happened. Aurors were already hard at work doing the late cleanup. He wondered if they found anything worth…

Then he saw it. Lying in a pile of rubble across the clearing a blaze of red hair that looked unmistakably like…

"Ginny!" he yelled and raced over to the spot. He madly began tearing off pieces of metal, wood, and who knows what else off of her, before he finally unearthed Ginny from the debris.

"Oh no…" Hermione cried, and found herself unable to stand as she sank to her knees and stared at the horrific scene before her. Ginny was in pretty bad shape. There were deep cuts and bruises all over her body, small shards of glass still jabbed in them. Her clothes were ripped and torn badly, her breasts slightly exposed to his eyes, but he ignored it. Her arm and a third of her chest was covered in blood, but there were no large open wounds there. He noticed her hand was bleeding severely. She was also bleeding slightly at the back of her head, and Harry immediately cried for a doctor.

Finally, one came, and they levitated her onto an ambulance (they muttered something about anti-apparation wards and this was the only way). They told Harry she should be fine, that she had a blow to the head and several cut wounds, and they could have her back to normal if she didn't suffer any lasting brain damage, but it wasn't the blow to the head that worried Harry. All of those injuries seemed like she was tortured. Like they beat her until they…

He turned his head away, afraid to look at her now. It was all his fault. Because he was in love with her, the Death Eaters decided to have a bit of "fun" before they held her as ransom. But what was that explosion? What on earth really happened…

"Hey, I found someone!" exclaimed one of the Aurors, and pulled from the wreckage the limp body of Luna Lovegood.

She only had minor injuries, a few cuts from fallen debri, nothing more. But no matter how much they tried, she would not wake up.

"Look at the spell remnants on the walls," Harry heard an auror whisper to another, "It's almost like…"

"Yes, there's no mistaken it. It's the killing curse."

"What!" shouted Harry, not caring if they knew he had overheard them, "You're saying Ginny's dead!"

"Calm down, lad. Now, who's Ginny?"

"The redhead girl who just…"

"Oh, no. She's fine," said the doctor next to him, "But the blonde…"

"Luna?"

"Yes, I'm afraid she might have been hit. I'm sorry for your…"

But Harry wasn't listening. He just stood there, trying to take all of this in. He couldn't believe it. Another one of his friends had fallen. Cedric. Sirius. Dumbledore. And now Luna. It seemed everyone around him died. And all because he hadn't been there to save them. It was all his fault. All of his…

"Hey! You there, kid?"

"Huh? Sorry, I…"

"I asked if you wanted to accompany the two girls to St. Mungo's."

"Um, yeah. Thank you."

The ride to the hospital seemed long and quiet. Ron sat with Hermione muttering how he should have done this, or done that. Harry wasn't listening. All he could hear was his own conscience ranting on how he shouldn't have even wanted love; that he should have known nothing good would come out of it.

Would have. Should have. None of that mattered. The present and future did, and Harry knew that as long as he still felt the way he did about Ginny, she would only continue to get hurt. Somehow, at least until Voldemort was defeated, he had to stop caring about her at all. It was the only way.

Ginny was rushed to extensive care, and Harry and the others weren't allowed to watch, so they decided to see Luna instead. Though she was hit with the Avada Kedavra curse, there was too much confusion back at Diagon Alley to figure out what to do with her, so for now she stayed in a bed next to Ginny's.

_That could have been Ginny_. The thought repeatedly went through Harry's mind as he stared down at Luna's lifeless body. He couldn't look away. He felt he needed to see this. He had always avoided seeing the dead after they died. He tried to forget Cedric. He never saw Sirius's body afterwards. He let Dumbledore lie in his coffin. No, he thought. This time he would force himself to look. He needed to see the reality of what might come.

"And I always made fun of her," Ron blubbered, I still called her 'Loony,' even when…"

"I know, I know. I always thought she was a bit strange, too," Hermione cried with him, "Ginny was the only one who saw…"

Ron and Hermione continued to mourn the dead and injured, but Harry found no words coming out of his mouth. Not a single tear fled down his face. The feelings that should come naturally from a moment like this weren't coming. Those kinds of emotions were unreal, like love. He had seen so much that even death did not seem to affect him. Would Ginny's death be like this, should she die? Is this who he really was?

He stared down at Luna. Or was it this change in him that was bringing so many deaths. It was true. There had been numerous deaths each year since he hit puberty and began his path to kill Voldemort. Death seemed to follow him now.

No! That couldn't be true. It was just the wrong time for him. This was war. There would be casualties. Shame it had to be Luna.

_Beep._

Harry snapped out of his stupor. What was that noise?

_Beep……….Beep._

There it was again. That sound, familiar somehow…

_Beep………. Beep…..Beep….Beep…Beep._

He looked up towards the contraptions hooked to Luna's body. He didn't know why the doctors put them there, since she was dead. But the machine that measured her heart rate was…beeping.

"Hermione, Luna's…"

"ALIVE! She's alive! Oh my god!"

The doctors, hearing the noise, immediately rushed in. Sure enough, Luna's heart rate was returning to normal. Her eyes flickered a bit before she finally opened them and gave a small yawn.

"Is Ginny alright?" she asked them.

"She got pretty beat up, but she should be all right," said Ron.

"But you looked like you were hit with the Killing Curse," said Hermione, "How in the world did you—"

Luna went quiet for a second, and Hermione thought she had forgotten the question when she looked back up and said, "He missed me."

"But your coma—"

"The curse was very big. It hit the ground, but I guess it was so strong it knocked me and Ginny backwards and I fainted, or something…"

"That could explain her head injuries," said one of the doctors, "and the rest of her wounds might be from fallen debris. She could have landed on top of you and so you weren't hit with the rubble."

"Yes," she agreed, "That must have been what happened."

Just then, Harry felt someone push him aside and soon found himself shoved out of the room by a horde of Aurors. Immediately, they began to ask Luna questions about the attack, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were unable to listen in.

"I don't think that's what happened," said Hermione, "How could she have got into a coma just from hitting her head?"

"Maybe the curse killed her temporarily since it didn't really hit her," said Ron, "Who knows? We weren't there."

"I don't think so," Harry muttered half to himself, "She looked like she had to think a bit before answering."

"You mean she was hiding the truth? Why?"

"Dunno. Maybe we should ask Ginny what really happened then."

"Yeah, good idea."

It took a few days before Ginny woke up. First thing she said was, "Bloody hell, it hurts!" so they had to wait another day before she got over the stinging pain.

"I don't know what happened," she told them when they asked her, "I remember the Death Eater pointing his wand at me…"

"At you? But Luna was—"

"Yeah, it was the one I dueled at Hogwarts where you came in and took care of him for me," she told them, "Apparently he didn't like that, so he cast the curse on me, but Luna shoved me out of the way and she got…"

"LUNA!" she cried, "She got hit! Is she alright, I…"

But then she froze up and clutched her head violently, screaming in pain. Harry and Ron tried to calm her down, but it was no use. The pain was too great, it was filling her up.

"F-fire…burning…burning it all…bodies…everywhere…stop…"

"Ginny! Snap out of it! Ginny!" Harry cried, but Ginny was too lost for his words. She couldn't stop what was happening. The room seemed like a haze, distant memories she didn't know she had came back to her, and then all went black again.

But not for long. She woke up a minute later, perfectly fine once again.

"I'm sorry. That was really weird."

"Yeah. What happened?"

"I dunno. All I could see was fire and a lot of screaming…"

"You must have witnessed what happened, then!" exclaimed Hermione, "Can you…"

"No. I don't remember. But is Luna alright? Is she…"

"I'm fine, Ginny," she said, sitting in a corner next to her, "He missed, actually," she told her, and winked at Ginny, who nodded.

"I'm glad," she said, "I'm sorry I can't remember what happened. I'm guessing something did happen, then?"

"Well, there was definitely fire when we got there," said Ron, "and the bodies were still…" but Hermione nudged him again when Ginny tensed up at the mention of them. But the topic seemed to be still being discussed…

"40 dead, 12 wounded," Harry heard an auror whisper behind him, "30 of the dead were Death Eaters, and 8 were wounded Death Eaters, at least those we recovered."

"I'm guessing there were a few that managed to get away with minor injuries, but we can't be sure," said another, "But it's weird that they would attack each other like that."

"Perhaps there's a breaking in the ranks," the other one wondered aloud, "A secret group against You-Know-Who?"

"Maybe it's not a secret Death Eater group," Harry said without thinking, "Maybe someone out there is fighting them."

The two aurors spun around, shocked to discover that their seemingly private conversation had been heard. But when they saw it was Harry, they relaxed a bit.

"Yes, that is a possibility, but think about it," the first said to him, "What decent wizard would destroy an entire section of Diagon and Knockturn Alley while killing both Death Eaters and civilians alike?"

"Maybe it was an accident," Harry argued, "You never know with magic. Sometimes when I fought Voldemort, weird stuff happened that I couldn't control, either."

The Aurors winced at Voldemort's name, but still took in what Harry said. They nodded a bit before answering, "You could be right, but we should consider every scenario."

"Either way, it could turn out to be a good thing," said the second, "If Death Eaters are splitting, we could ally with that group for the time being and destroy You-Know-Who from within. And if it's a different group entirely, we would have a strong ally nonetheless."

"You'd want to join forces with Death Eaters?" questioned Harry, "Since when did it become okay to kill innocent people for a handful of Death Eaters?"

The two of them laughed, and shook their heads at Harry, "My boy, a lot of stuff has happened with these two ministers. You learn not to care that much very quickly."

"Besides, we would make sure they are controlled," he reassured Harry, "We not that apathetic."

The two Aurors smiled at Harry and patted him on the shoulder, "You ever thought of being an auror, Potter? You seem to have the mind for it."

Harry's heart suddenly lifted. After all that had happened, it felt good to hear someone praising him for something. This was just what he needed.

"Actually, yes," Harry told them excitedly, "I was hoping to receive Auror training when I graduated from Hogwarts."

"Is that so? Well," he laughed and poked Harry in the arm, "just build on those muscles a bit and I'm sure you'll get in."

"Muscles?" questioned Harry, "Why would I need muscles if I use magic?"

They laughed again, but for some reason it didn't seem like they were laughing at him…much.

"You've got to be fit in our field. You never know what Death Eaters will throw at you. Sometimes your wand just isn't enough to—"

"Sir! One of the Death Eaters is awake!" a man shouted in the doorway, "We're awaiting your orders on the questioning."

"Excellent, just what we need. Why don't you join us, Potter? Might give you some taste as to what you should expect."

"I really couldn't—"

"Nonesense, you'd just watch, okay?"

With a nod, Harry was lead by the head Auror down the hallways of St. Mungo's to a small room at the end. On the bed, he saw a man with burns all over his body, being treated constantly by two nurses. He guessed they were using a spell to block the pain, for he couldn't see how he would be able to talk otherwise.

"Your name, if you please?"

"," the man croaked out.

"Good, now can you tell us what happened early this morning?"

"N-no."

"Pardon?"

"I cannot. See, I cannot remember what happened. I've tried, believe me."

"If you are lying, I have Veritaserum right here in my pocket."

"It's not necessary—ah!" he cried, for the pain now seemed to be too much for him and he screamed in agony. The nurses tried to calm him down and strengthen the spells, but it didn't seem to be working.

"Can't you do anything?"

"I'm sorry, sir. He has internal injuries, and we were waiting for the doctor, but he hasn't come yet. I—"

But before they could try anything else, the man stopped screaming and fell back onto the bed. Harry heard that horrible sound of a loud, constant beep.

"Dead. Pity. He was our last shot, too."

"What do you mean?" asked Harry, "Didn't you say there were 12 wounded?"

"Yes," he said, "but the results were the same as this one. Memory wiped clean."

"Ginny seems to be like that, too," said Harry, "she said something about fire, and a lot of screaming."

"Hers must have been a bit rushed, then," the second Auror said, "Still, I doubt she remembers much else."

"Not entirely. It might still be there, somewhere," the leader disagreed, "but she won't remember it now. She might later, though. I'd keep an eye on her, Harry. Let us know if you find anything. Name's Arnold Reindold. Your owl will find me."

"I'll tell you if there's anything," Harry said, and left the two Aurors with their "witness" and left to join Ginny and the others once again.

A/N: There, no cliffhangers here! Next chapter'll be Hogwarts, or at least the train ride. I dunno, I'll have it when I write it! Read/Review please!


End file.
